Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Female Genital Mutilation

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which countries where female genital mutilation is known or suspected to be practised widely receive UK overseas aid.

Baroness Verma: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is one of the most extreme manifestations of gender inequality. It is a form of violence against women and girls and can result in a lifetime of physical, psychological and emotional suffering. It is a global problem – over 200 million women and girls across at least 30 countries, including the UK, have been cut.The UK Government remains firmly committed to bringing about an end of FGM. Our Flagship FGM programme supports efforts to end the practise in 17 of the highest burden of these countries. With the support from UK aid over 13,500 communities across these countries have publically declared the abandonment of FGM since 2008.

Middle East: International Assistance

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UK's status as the largest European donor for relief in Syria and Iraq, and for refugee services elsewhere, what progress they are making toward greater burden-sharing within the EU and the European Economic Area in proportion to each country's income per head.

Baroness Verma: The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the Syrian crisis. To date, we have committed over £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis. As a result of the rise of Daesh, a separate humanitarian crisis has also emerged in Iraq. To date, we have committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq.We continue to play a leading role in encouraging the international community to contribute generously to the UN appeals. At the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference we co-hosted in London on 4 February 2016, leaders came together to pledge more than $11 billion, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. The money pledged at the Conference will save lives, give hope and give people a chance for the future.We welcome the generous pledge of $2.5 billion in immediate and long-term funding from Germany at the Conference. Likewise, the EU pledged €915 million for 2016, €1.275 billion for 2017-20 and a further €200 million in concessional finance. Like the UK, Germany and the EU have pledged much more than in previous years.

Developing Countries: Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have regarding claims that UN member states are seeking to minimise the number of Sustainable Development Goal indicators, possibly eliminate the Female Genital Mutilation target, and retain the current restriction of measuring Female Genital Mutilation only in "relevant countries".

Baroness Verma: The UK has continually championed the inclusion of a global goal on gender and the inclusion of a target on ending harmful practices with indicators on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM). With others, we resisted a proposed qualifier which would have restricted the measurement of FGM to ‘relevant countries only’. We anticipate this indicator will remain, and apply to all countries, when the report and indicators are approved by the UN Statistical commission in mid-March.

Overseas Aid

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to change the definition of overseas development aid in order to channel a higher proportion of the aid budget through departments other than the Department for International Development.

Baroness Verma: As one of just a few donors to have met the 0.7% commitment, the credibility of the Official Development Assistance system is of great importance to the UK. The government is working closely with other countries to modernise the definition of Official Development Assistance at the OECD Development Assistance Committee, to ensure it reflects the breadth of the new international development agenda set by the new Global Goals for Sustainable Development and fully incentivises other countries to meet these goals.

Developing Countries: Malaria

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the £536 million spent by the Department for International Development on malaria in 2013–14 was disbursed, and how much of the total committed to malaria in 2014–15 has not yet been spent.

Baroness Verma: The methodology used to monitor UK malaria spend between 2008/09 and 2014/15 was published in the 2010 Framework for Results for Malaria. In 2013/14 the UK provided £536 million to help reduce malaria deaths. The UK is helping to tackle malaria through bilateral and multilateral channels. The UK’s bilateral support includes: malaria-specific bilateral programmes (36% of total malaria spend in 2013/14); support to strengthening health systems (20% of malaria spend in 2013/14); and other bilateral support including the delivery of interventions to reduce malaria in pregnancy and supporting malaria related research (10% of 2013/14 malaria spend).The main contribution to tackling malaria through multilateral channels is the UK support to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (31% of total malaria spend in 2013/14).All of the Department’s 2014/15 spend on malaria has been disbursed. The UK’s investment on malaria has contributed to saving more than six million lives over the past 15 years.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why no safe areas have been established in Syria, in particular in Idlib, Darra, Jazira, and Afrin.

Baroness Verma: At the Syria conference in London on 4 February, the Prime Minister announced that the UK will more than double our support in response to the Syria crisis from £1.12 billion to over £2.3 billion, our largest ever humanitarian response to a single crisis. We will consider any option compliant with international law that might save lives in Syria. However, experience suggests that so-called ‘safe’ areas can prove difficult to demilitarise and protect against all threats. In fact, there is a risk that they can become targets.For a safe area to work, all parties to the conflict and relevant regional authorities would need to agree to its establishment. In the absence of such consent, this would require foreign military intervention, authorised by a UN Security Council Resolution. Any party seeking to establish a safe area would need to ensure sufficient military capability to guarantee safety from both aerial and ground attack, including by unconventional means. Credible measures would also be needed to prevent human rights abuses and to provide humanitarian assistance within the protected area. In addition, the existence of a ‘safe’ area near an international border should not be used to repatriate refugees against their will, or to deny access to asylum.The UK plays a key role in ensuring humanitarian access to Syria. By 31 January 2016, at least 257 shipments of cross-border aid had been delivered as a direct result of the UK co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolutions 2165, 2191 and 2258 which enables the UN to deliver aid into Syria without the consent of the regime. We continue to call on all sides to the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and ensure free, unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies.

*No heading*

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of which infectious diseases are among the leading causes of death for girls and women aged 10 to 19 in Africa, and what steps they are taking, working with individual countries bilaterally, to tackle those diseases.

Baroness Verma: World Health Organisation (WHO) data show that the leading causes of death from infectious diseases amongst adolescent girls and women in Africa are HIV/AIDS, diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections, meningitis and malaria. HIV/AIDS is not only the leading cause of death itself, but is also responsible for deaths from many other infectious diseases. The UK is the second largest funder of HIV prevention, care and treatment, and has pledged up to £1 billion for the 2014-16 replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Half of Global Fund resources are used to tackle HIV and almost 60% are invested in programmes that reach women and children.The UK puts the empowerment of girls and women at the heart of everything we do. Through our multilateral and bilateral investments we are tackling the barriers that limit their access to services, strengthening health systems, and tackling the stigma and gender-based violence and inequality they face.

Department for Education

Teachers: Qualifications

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which body or bodies establishes the final criteria for qualified teacher status; what are those criteria; and where they are made available.

Lord Nash: The National College for Teaching and Leadership publishes the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) criteria. These set out entry, training, management and quality assurance criteria with which all accredited providers of ITT must comply with. The Teachers’ Standards were published in 2011 and apply to all teachers regardless of their career stage. They define the minimum level of practice expected of teachers. For the purpose of the award of qualified teacher status (QTS), they constitute the ‘specified standards’ within the meaning given to the phrase in Schedule 2 of The Education (School Teachers’ Qualifications) (England) Regulations. As such, they are used by accredited providers of ITT to assess trainee progress and attainment during, and the end of, a training programme. The ITT criteria and Teachers’ Standards have been attached to this answer.

Teachers: Qualifications

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Education (School Teacher Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003, and in particular Schedule 2, remain in force; and if not, when they were amended, and by what Act or statutory instrument.

Lord Nash: The Education (School Teacher Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003, including Schedule 2, remain in force.

Teachers: Training

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government where the criteria for standards in initial teacher training can be found, and whether there are any specific legislative instruments enforcing those criteria.

Lord Nash: The Teachers’ Standards were published in 2011 and apply to all teachers. They define the minimum level of practice expected of teachers. The document can be found on the GOV.UK website, and has been attached to this answer. The standards refer to:Schedule 2 of The Education (School Teachers’ Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003The Education (School Teachers’ Appraisal) (England) Regulations 2012 As such, the Teachers’ Standards apply to:Trainees working towards Qualified Teacher Status;All teachers completing their statutory induction period (newly qualified teachers [NQTs]); andTeachers in maintained schools, including maintained special schools, who are covered by the 2012 appraisal regulations. The National College for Teaching and Leadership will use Part Two of the Teachers’ Standards, which relates to personal and professional conduct, when assessing cases of serious misconduct, regardless of the education sector in which the teacher works.



Teachers' Standards
(PDF Document, 286.61 KB)

Teachers: Qualifications

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role the National College for Teaching and Learning has in formulating the criteria for qualified teacher status.

Lord Nash: The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) had no role in the formulation of the Teachers’ Standards. The Teachers’ Standards were published by the Secretary of State in 2011.The National College for Teaching and Leadership publishes the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Criteria. These set out entry, training, management and quality assurance criteria with which all accredited providers of ITT must comply. Ofsted uses these criteria when it inspects ITT providers.The Criteria are attached, and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/434608/ITT_criteria.pdf



Initial teacher training criteria
(PDF Document, 84.13 KB)

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Massey of Darwen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what additional steps, if any, they will take to monitor and enforce compliance with the School Admissions Code in the light of their decision to limit those who can formally object to school admission arrangements; and what estimate they have made of what percentage of the objections submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by (1) parents, and (2) groups or organisations, were successful between 2012 and 2015 inclusive.

Lord Nash: The School Admissions Code exists to ensure that places in all state funded schools are allocated in a fair and transparent manner. The Department for Education will shortly be consulting on a package of changes to the Code, which will include measures to assist parents and promote fairness and transparency. The proposed changes in relation to objections are designed to ensure that the Schools Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school and is not held up by the need to also consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area. Local authorities will continue to have the right to object so that they are able to act on behalf of the local community.

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Massey of Darwen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy that all schools should follow the School Admissions Code, and if so, why objections to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator that have been upheld have been described by the Secretary of State for Education as "vexatious".

Lord Nash: All maintained schools and academies are required to comply with the School Admissions Code.Currently, legislation allows ‘any person or body who considers that a maintained school or academy’s arrangements are unlawful’ to refer an objection to the Schools Adjudicator. However, the Adjudicator raised concerns in her recent annual report that, in some instances, groups and individuals appear to have referred objections in an attempt to influence government policy.We want to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns that parents may have about their local school’s admission arrangements, and is not held up by the need to also consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area. We are, therefore, proposing that only local parents and local authorities should be able to refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator.We will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Massey of Darwen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to comments made by Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, Chair of the Accord coalition, opposing proposals to prevent organisations from objecting to the admission arrangements of schools.

Baroness Massey of Darwen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign in 2015, and in particular its recommendations that an independent body be established actively to monitor and enforce schools' admissions arrangements.

Lord Nash: The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the School Admissions Code which will both respond to concerns from parents and to the findings in the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Report. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.We want the Schools Adjudicator to be able to focus on objections raised by those who will be affected by admission arrangements. Local Authorities will continue to have a right to object on behalf of the local community.The Government supports the need for an independent body to respond to concerns raised about the fairness of school admission arrangements. The Schools Adjudicator is that body and we are confident of both the independence and rigour of the adjudication process.

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Massey of Darwen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether proposed changes to who can object to school admissions arrangements will have a disproportionate impact on parents from low income backgrounds.

Lord Nash: Our proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school. We do not want parents’ objections to be held up by the need to also consider objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.It will remain open for local authorities to object to the Adjudicator about schools’ admission arrangements as the champion of local parents. Preventing interest groups from submitting objections will not have a detrimental impact on lower income families.We will conduct a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

Faith Schools: Admissions

Viscount Ridley: To ask Her Majesty’s Governmentwhat consideration they have given to the finding of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a number of religiously selective schools have asked parents for information about their occupational, marital, and financial status as part of the admissions process, and whether they consider this to be acceptable.

Viscount Ridley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a significant number of religiously selective schools have not conducted proper consultations on their admission arrangements, and in many cases have not published any information about their arrangements.

Lord Nash: Many of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association echo those reported by the Chief Schools Adjudicator in her Annual Report for the 2013/14 school year.Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.

Teachers: Training

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the timetable for the publication of the recommendations of the Department for Education's independent expert group, led by Stephen Munday CBE, on improving the quality of initial teacher training courses in England.

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to enact in full the recommendations from the Department for Education's independent expert group, led by Stephen Munday CBE.

Lord Nash: Ministers of the Department for Education are awaiting the report from Stephen Munday’s independent expert group on the content of initial teacher training, which is expected this spring. The Government will consider the group’s recommendations carefully and determine how they should be taken forward.

Department for Education: Legislation

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department for Education on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord Nash: There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments laid since 2010 or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that the number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked at 1,885 in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.



CBP 7438
(PDF Document, 2.5 MB)

*No heading*

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to ensure that every academy has its own governing body.

Lord Nash: Under the Academies Act 2010 an academy is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is therefore required under the Companies Act 2006 to have members and a board of trustees/ directors. In a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT), individual academies do not have a separate legal identity and are all under the control of the trust board. Whether the board establishes local governing boards for each academy or local governing bodies to oversee groups of academies, and the range of functions delegated to any such boards, are both a matter for the board to determine – but in all cases the board remains accountable for all the academies in the MAT. Fewer, higher quality and more highly skilled boards overseeing groups of schools is central to the Government’s strategy for improving the quality of governance. It is also the key to schools realising a wide range of other financial and educational benefits. While every academy may not therefore have its own governing body, our guidance in the Governance Handbook makes clear that boards should have meaningful and effective arrangements in place for engaging with and listening to the views and needs of parents, staff and the wider local community.

Ministry of Justice

Open Prisons

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners were in open prisons in each of the last five years.

Lord Keen of Elie: Progression to open prisons is never automatic, and prisoners must generally be within two years of release before they can be considered for allocation. Public protection is paramount, so the only prisoners transferred to open prison are those whose risk of escape/abscond and risk of causing harm to the public are assessed as capable of being effectively managed in an open prison. Indeterminate sentence prisoners are, with few exceptions, transferred to open conditions only following a positive recommendation by the Parole Board. The Board will make such a recommendation after a robust risk assessment, based on reports provided by offender managers, offender supervisors and, where appropriate, by psychologists, with the overriding priority being the safety of the public. The following table shows the number of male and female prisoners held in dedicated open prisons as at the last Friday in June in each of the last five years. The data below do not include the number of male and female prisoners held in category D units in otherwise closed prisons. DatePopulationJune 20114,808June 20124,953June 20134,981June 20145,087June 20155,020

HM Treasury

Social Security Benefits and Taxation: EU Nationals

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of (1) the annual benefits paid to EU migrants in the UK, and (2) the contribution of those individuals to the public purse through income tax receipts and VAT.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The information is not available.

Ministry of Defence

*No heading*

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe on 10 February (HL Deb, col 2239), whether a ministerial direction has been given to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence to continue spending on the Vanguard successor submarine programme.

Earl Howe: There has been no ministerial direction given to the Permanent Secretary on spending plans for the Successor submarine programme.

*No heading*

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when British military liaison began with Saudi Arabia regarding its intervention in Yemen.

Earl Howe: The UK and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have a long history of defence co-operation and this involves an ongoing defence engagement relationship.In addition, we have deployed a small number of military personnel serving as liaison officers in Saudi headquarters to provide insight into Saudi operations in Yemen. These liaison officers are not involved in the targeting process - whether it be selection, decision-making or directing.The first of these liaison officers was deployed in May 2015.

*No heading*

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether UK military personnel trained in, or dedicated to, cultural protection have been involved in liaison with Saudi Arabia regarding its intervention in Yemen.

Earl Howe: All UK Service personnel receive mandatory annual training in the Law of Armed Conflict and this includes training in cultural protection. They will also receive further training prior to their deployment.